Yesterday morning, a crowd of nearly 50 Blacksburg residents gathered outside of the Inn at Virginia Tech, holding signs saying “Stop Wal-Mart” and “Support a Sustainable Blacksburg.”
Virginia Tech students, staff and community members alike protested the new ordinance that was presented on March 27 at a town council meeting that has widely been publicized as a plan to open a Wal-Mart in Blacksburg near Margaret Beeks Elementary School.
“There are several reasons why I am here. But the most important (reason) is that the first plan proposed putting a residential area beside the elementary school,” said Blacksburg resident and the department of food, science and technology staff member Geoffrey Knobl. “And that plan was changed in order to put a Wal-Mart there without any apparent public comment. Putting a retail establishment there will result in higher traffic and crime rates, and I am concerned because not only do I live nearby, but I have a child that will be attending the school in September and another who will go there in a few years. I’d like my children to walk and ride their bikes to school and if there are a bunch of tractor trailers moving in and out, which would obviously make the area more dangerous for them.”
A representative of the Fairmont Development Company promoting the placement of the Wal-Mart in the Blacksburg area spoke at a conference at the Inn entitled, “Weapons of Mass Construction.” The mayor and vice-mayor attended to learn more about the plan, which some believe will also include bringing in a Books-A-Million and a new pharmacy.
“We have a pharmacy in Kroger and in CVS,” Knobl said. “We don’t need a third pharmacy and both Wal-Mart and Books-A-Million are in Christiansburg.”
Tech students also made clear their oppositions to the plan.
“I am here because I like Blacksburg the way it is,” said sophomore international studies major Aimee Fausser. “It is a fairly untouched community environmentally; it has a small town atmosphere and that will be destroyed by a big box company like Wal-Mart.”
Protestors arrived at 11 a.m., as specified in the permit that was granted to the group to gather, and the protest lasted until noon. Kay-Kay Goette, a Blacksburg resident who was responsible for acquiring the permit, proudly displayed a sign that read “No big box!”
“I think that Wal-Mart would change the entire atmosphere of our town,” Goette said. “I’m opposed to big box companies anyway, but specifically where this one will be located — right by the elementary school. It’s a terrible location.”
Chemistry professor Felicia Etzkorn arrived at the Inn on bike and expressed her opposition to the plan quite openly by starting chants and rallying for support.
“I’m in favor of smart growth, and Wal-Mart is dumb growth,” Etzkorn said. “Local businesses keep money in the community five times as long as chains do.”
While Blacksburg residents have come out in groups to protest, one town council member feels that the whole process of adopting the ordinance is moving far too quickly, and is leaving some residents by the wayside.
“We don’t even know if the new development will be a Wal-Mart,” said town council member Paul Lancaster. “There has been no official signing to any large retail establishment. The purpose of the ordinance is to cap any new development to 80,000 square feet unless a special permit is acquired by the town council acquires a special permit. I’m not sure that people are understanding the specifications of the ordinance, so I think that we need to slow down the approval process in order to have more public hearings and notifications on the ordinance. About the Books-A-Million aspect, that is a whole new plan and won’t be addressed until after this one.”
